Your estate plan reflects your life on the day you sign it. As your family, property and wishes change, your plan may stop matching them.
This article explains when to review your plan, what the law does on its own if you do not, and how updates are made.
Events that call for a review
Talk with your attorney about your plan after any of these:
- A marriage, divorce or separation
- The birth or adoption of a child or grandchild
- The death of someone in your plan, whether a beneficiary or a person you named to act
- Someone you named can no longer serve, or you no longer want them to
- A move to another state
- Buying property in another state, starting a business or a large change in your wealth
- A child turning 18, or a family member developing special needs
- A serious change in your own health
Even without a major event, many people review their plan every few years.
What the law does if you do not update
Some life events change how your existing documents work, even if you never touch them. The rules differ by state:
- A divorce cancels gifts to your former spouse in your Will, and any role you gave them. It also cancels many of their beneficiary designations.
- You may marry after signing your Will without providing for your new spouse. If so, your spouse may still be entitled to a share of your estate.
- A child born or adopted after you sign your Will may be entitled to a share if the Will does not provide for them.
- Marrying after you sign your Will generally revokes the whole Will. The exceptions are a Will made with the marriage in mind, or an agreement you and your spouse signed before the marriage.
- A divorce cancels gifts to your former spouse in your Will, and their appointment to settle your estate.
- A child born or adopted after you sign your Will may be entitled to a share, depending on how the Will treats your other children.
These rules are a backstop, not a plan. They may not match your wishes, and they do not reach everything you own.
If you move to another state
Documents you signed in another state are often still valid after a move. Even so, a move is a reason to have your plan reviewed, because your new state may have different rules.
Powers of attorney and health care documents are the most likely to cause problems. Banks, hospitals and doctors are used to their own state’s forms, and some may refuse a document that does not match.
After a hospital stay
Hospitals often ask patients to complete their own forms about health care decisions or end-of-life wishes. A form like that can replace or conflict with the health care documents in your plan, even if you did not mean it to.
If you are asked to sign one, consider your existing documents first. If you have already signed one, review your health care documents with your attorney once you are well again.
How updates are made
Your attorney can update your plan with an amendment or with new documents. Do not write changes on your signed documents. Handwritten changes may not be valid, and they can lead to disputes.
An update to your documents is only part of the job. Review your beneficiary forms and the titles of your accounts and property at the same time.
Want to read more?
These articles are optional.
- Beneficiary designations: How retirement accounts, life insurance and other property outside your Will fit with your plan. See this article.
- Funding your Revocable Trust: Keeping your property titled in your Revocable Trust. See this article.
- Keeping your originals: Where to keep your signed documents. See this article.
- Glossary: Common estate planning terms. See this article.